The Prophecy's Child
by LucidRant
Summary: Kaoru has always been a child of prophecy, but when her fate changes from one of total destruction to one of complete power, she is forced from the life she has always known in order to stop an evil tyrant before her eighteenth birthday.


Disclaimer: I will never, ever own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters within the manga/anime, I'm just borrowing them to carry out my evil writing desires.

The Prophecy's Child

Prologue: The Beginning

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"Quiet the children," a woman spoke briskly as she stood beside the window. Her sharp eyes gazed out upon the fog of morning.

Soon, the fog would clear away and the unrelenting sun would shine upon them. The dunes of red sand would be revealed, standing like otherworldly barriers. The normal searing heat would settle upon their village, and life would continue normally. It always did.

That peaceful time seemed far away from this moment.

"Mommy." A toddler whined as she came to stand beside the woman. Her tiny hands latched onto her mother's tan leather dress and her clear blue eyes sparkled with worry.

The woman smiled down at her daughter and placed her hand upon the girl's ebony tresses in reassurance. "Everything will be fine." She whispered, trying to sooth both the child's and her own inner doubts. Soon, she told herself, that fog would be gone and all of their worries would vanish with it.

No prophecy would be fulfilled this morning.

"Daddy's not here." The child whimpered as she wrapped her arms tightly around her mother's knees.

"I know, my sweet. He's fighting with all the others." All of her emotions were withheld from the sentence and the woman turned once more to the window. It was all she could do to keep from falling into her consuming grief.

The little girl furrowed her brows. "Where is he, then?"

"At the edge of this fog."

Soon, the fog would be gone.

"Is he protecting little sister too?" The child smiled brightly, her eyes glittering with pride. The woman quickly brought a hand to her chest, settling it over her aching heart. A small sobbing noise rose from her mouth while she gazed steadily out at the fog.

"Yes." Her eyes left the scene outside for a moment and settled on a wooden cradle standing in the back of the room.

* * *

"Kaoru! You get back into this house this instant!" A woman yelled from the doorway. In her hands she held bathing utensils.

"No!" A small four year old girl cried happily as she ran away from her mother. The girl's blue eyes sparkled happily and a little ponytail of black hair whipped back and forth as she jogged.

As Kaoru passed a group of village women, they laughed and looked towards the child's mother. "You've got a energetic one there, Yuki!" They called out jokingly before they continued on with their business.

"You have absolutely no idea." The woman sighed at the antics of her youngest daughter. Then, suddenly thinking of something, Yuki straightened and turned to look into her house.

"Kaori, dear. Will you come here for a moment?" There was silence before a girl came trotting up to her mother from a back room.

"What is it mom?" Blue eyes that matched Kaoru's sparkled happily up at her mother. Yuki marveled at how alike her daughters were, despite their three-year difference in age.

"Kaoru needs her bath. Will you fetch her for me?" The child nodded then headed out the door, already knowing where her little sister was hiding.

Kaori rushed to the edge of the small village and came to a clustered of dense desert grasses. Within the tall grass she heard hushed breathing and the slight rustling of fabric. With a knowing smirk she planted her hands on her hips and waited silently. After a few moments the rustling stopped and Kaoru poked her head out from her hiding place.

Kaori lunged at her younger sister. "Gottcha!" She cried as they tumbled around in the sand.

"No!" Kaoru whined as she was pinned to the ground by Kaori. With child like frustration, she grunted and kicked her feet in protest. "I don't want a bath!"

"You need one Kaoru!"

"I don't want one!" Came the reply. Sensing the this was getting nowhere, Kaori sighed and picked herself up from Kaoru, giving her sister a pointed look.

"You should listen to mommy, Kaoru. You're a big girl now, so act like it!" With that Kaori leaned over and thumped her baby sister on the head. Kaoru yelped but remained seated.

"But, I don't wanna…" the girl whimpered, big fat crocodile tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Tough! You need to do what mommy says. Remember: we both promised that we would protect mommy, since Daddy isn't here anymore, okay?" Kaori waited for Kaoru to nod then she got up, shook the sand from her clothes and held out a hand for the younger girl.

As they walked back towards the hut where Yuki stood waiting, Kaoru turned to her sister. "What was Daddy like, Kaori?" Her eyes shone with unhampered curiosity.

Kaori sighed and looked away, for a moment her eyes turned dull, weighted down by sad memories. Then she turned back to her sister and smiled. "I was really young Kaoru. I don't really remember."

"Tell me what you do remember!" Kaoru cried desperately.

"Well," Kaori paused to think. "I don't remember what he looked like, but I remember his smell and how warm he was. He was really warm, and I snuggled with him a lot."

"What did he smell like?" The question bubbled up from the Kaoru's mouth.

"A mix between air and trees. He smelled like the outdoors." Kaori's lips twisted into a rueful smile before her features hardened over. She quickly turned to Kaoru and stopped her sister's questioning. "Enough of this. Just go and take a bath and we'll talk tonight."

"Okay!" Kaoru smiled brightly then trotted into the house, past her waiting mother and towards the washroom. Yuki looked towards her eldest daughter and they shared a knowing look.

Later that night, as Kaoru and Kaori began settling in for bed, clouds rolled in to cover the starry night. Despite that, the sands glowed an eerie shade of crimson from outside their hut's window.

Kaoru waited anxiously as Kaori blew out the candle in their room and settled herself in the futon they shared.

"Hey, Kaori."

There was silence for a moment, then a grunt as her older sister rolled over to face her. "What."

"How old were you when Dad disappeared?"

Kaori sighed and propped her head up on her hand. "I was three, and you had just been born. I've already told you that."

Kaoru pulled the covers up to her chin and gazed unseeingly at the ceiling. She seemed to weigh the sentence and thought a moment before speaking up again. "Does that mean you remember the day he died?"

A moment of silence passed over them and distant thunder made a low rumbling noise. Then, Kaori suddenly turned the other way, with her back to Kaoru. "Just go to sleep Kao." She whispered gruffly.

"Alright." Kaoru said and closed her eyes to sleep.

The girls had hardly been asleep for long when the thatched door to their room was slammed open, awakening them from their slumber. With startled yelps, the girls sat up from their futon and gazed frightened eyes at the intruder.

Yuki stood in the doorway, her clothing in disarray and wet; in her hand she held a covered lamp. "Girls." She whispered fiercely, her voice cracking in her urgency. "Get dressed quickly."

Both Kaoru and Kaori leapt from the futon and found their discarded clothes. They were barely done tying their sashes, when their mother stormed into the room and ushered them out. She quickly silenced their cries of protest with a shushing noise. They were led into the main room, and Yuki kneeled down to search their faces frantically, looking as if she were going to say something. Glancing over her mother's shoulder, Kaoru saw the front door open, rain pouring onto the red sand outside and people fleeing through the street.

"Mommy!" She cried, a sudden fear gripping her heart. She clenched onto Yuki's shoulder for reassurance.

"Quiet Kaoru, dear." Her mother bade quickly. She glanced over her shoulder then back to her children. "There are men here who are looking for you."

Kaori gasped and took a step closer to her mother. "What?" She bawled helplessly. "What are they doing to our village?"

"There is no time to worry for the others." Yuki reached out and firmly gripped both Kaori's and Kaoru's hands. She turned to Kaori. "You need to run. Take Kaoru with you and protect her, Kaori." As she said this, she stood and began leading the two girls towards the door. "They cannot find you, do you understand? I want you to run. Everything will be fine as long as they do not find you."

They were at the doorway and rain came crashing down upon their figures in cold sheets. Kaoru began to sob in confusion. Yuki looked at her younger daughter then back to Kaori, who was holding Kaoru in her arms. "Go now." She said and Kaori took off running.

Kaoru had no choice but to follow as Kaori's strong arms gripped her and forced her forward. Wet sand splattered their clothing and skin while the two ran. Kaoru glanced back.

"Mommy!" She cried, seeing her mother rush in the other direction. With tears streaming down her face Kaoru turned towards her sister. "Kaori! Stop! Mommy isn't following us!"

"I know Kaoru. Keep running."

"What do you mean? Kaori, Mommy isn't here!" Kaoru pulled against her sister and tumbled backwards when Kaori released her. Not wasting a second, the older girl gripped her sister's shoulders again and shook her.

"Kaoru! Listen to me!" Lightning slashed across the sky suddenly and Kaoru caught a glimpse of Kaori's face. Her sister's identical features were hardened with determination, but her eyes gleamed with fear. Red sand splotched her face and jarringly resembled wet blood. Within an instant everything was dark again and Kaori shouted over the booming thunder. "Mommy is doing her job to protect us. We need to protect her too, remember?"

Kaoru nodded. Kaori quickly found her wrist and they started running again. After a few moments they reached the familiar patch of desert grass. Without warning, Kaori pushed Kaoru into the grass and leapt in after her.

Kaoru remained still as Kaori moved about her, arranging the grass as best she could to cover the two of them. Then, Kaori lay on top of Kaoru to cover her from sight. The younger girl looked out into the darkness, listening to the chaos that surrounded them.

Everywhere she heard people shouting and footsteps passing. Another claw of lightening lit the sky and the grasses parted for the briefest of moments. At the other end of the village, Kaoru saw strange men on horses charging through the rushing villagers, slashing them down with swords. Others were on foot, rushing into huts and moments later emerging with bloodied weapons.

Shouts rose above the thunder. "Find her! Find that girl!"

Kaoru shuddered, remembering her mother's words from earlier, and tried to get lower into the sand. Were these men searching for her? Above, Kaoru could hear Kaori's soft breaths and feel her frantic heartbeats.

Heavy footsteps came dangerously close to their hiding place. The sky flashed again and Kaoru could distinctly see a man standing above them. Everything returned to the darkness and the man stepped away. Kaoru sighed with relief.

Suddenly, a set of hands reached into the grass and grabbed Kaori by the side of her tunic. With a scream, she was jerked off of Kaoru and into the darkness. Kaoru stopped herself from yelling her sister's name by clamping her hands over her mouth.

"Sir! I think we've found her!" A gruff voice called close to Kaoru. The young girl curled up as small as she could so she would not be seen. With dread filling her entire being, Kaoru watched a man on horseback approach the invader holding Kaori. The man leaned forward on the saddle of his horse to inspect the flailing girl.

After a moment he leaned back with a grin on his mouth. "That's her no doubt. Blue eyes, black hair and everything. No one else here fits that description. Come on men, let's go, and bring the girl." The man turned his horse around and the foot soldiers followed, Kaori was thrown over one of the men's shoulders. She struggled for a moment before going limp, realizing her helpless situation.

"Kaori!" Kaoru screamed as she began to emerge from her place. With all intent on freeing her sister, Kaoru halted where she was when Kaori looked at her.

From the distance Kaoru could not hear what she said, but Kaori's eyes shone brightly with her message and Kaoru could see her lips form a single word. Stay.

Tears filling her eyes again, and Kaoru fell back into the grass and curled into a ball, her sobs being covered by the storm that raged on overhead.

Kaori was taken away, and Kaoru never saw her again.

TBC

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Hello everyone! This story was created due to a mixture of boredom and interest in videogames. How those two combined this story I will never know, but I hope you enjoy this story just as much as I enjoy writing it.

LS


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